Mohali: On the orders of the Punjab Government, a three-member team of the Board of Ayurveda and Unani System of Medicines, Punjab, conducted a raid on the office of the Council of Paramedical, Punjab, Phase 7, Mohali.

The team seized all the record related to the BAMS courses and fake certificates. The office was run by chairman Dr Surinder Arora and vice-chairman Dr Rajesh in SCF 128 (second floor), Phase 7. The team was led by Dr Rakesh Sharma, Director of Ayurveda, Punjab, and Dr Sanjeev Goel, Registrar, and Vaid Jagjeet Singh, Vice-Chairman, of the Board of Ayurveda and Unani System of Medicines, Punjab.

Sanjeev Goel said that these persons were providing fake certificates of various medical courses. They were taking amounts up to Rs 4 lakh per certificates. “The whole scam could be worth Rs 300 crore,” said Jagjeet Singh.

Director Rakesh Sharma said that prima facie the whole scenario was based on fraud. “We have seized eight registers, some certificates, marks-sheets of the final year. They were using the name of the course BAMS which is completely illegal.”

The office staff failed to provide any authorised documents to the team members. They are providing fake certificates under the name of Council of Alternative System of Medicines (Punjab). There was no such council, said the team.

“We have seized the whole record and will do a deep investigation. It is possible that these people are selling fake certificates to the people of rural areas. Such kind of practice could promote illegal drugs also, Goel said.

Sanjeev Goel said, “For any study related to the medical field in Punjab, an NOC is must from the Director, Medical Education. Any institute related to medical must be affiliated to the university and the degrees recognized by the Central Council of India.”

“We will send a report to the government and recommend further legal action,” He added.

In the meanwhile, one of the employees Sarabjit Singh claimed that they were not committing any fraud. He even challenged the team and said that it could not conduct such raids.